NEW DELHI: An Air India Express flight carrying 132 passengers from Hyderabad to Thailand suffered damages to its nose wheel when landing at Phuket airport on Wednesday morning.
Following the incident, the airport was forced to close till 6.30 pm on Wednesday, reported flight tracking platform Flightradar24.
The AI Express flight IX 938, a Boeing 737 Max 8, departed from Hyderabad at 6.23 am on Wednesday. The incident occurred when it was landing at 11.25 am, said the airline.
An AIX spokesperson said, "We confirm that out flight on 11 March experienced an issue with the nose wheel at Phuket Airport. The crew followed all standard protocols, and guests were deplaned. We thank our guests, the Phuket airport authorities, and all stakeholders for their cooperation.”
Flighradar24 says, "The only runway at Phuket Airport is closed after a landing incident involving Air India Express flight #IX938 (Boeing 737 MAX 8 with registration VT-BWQ)." The front landing gear of the aircraft appears to have been damaged as per pictures of it on social media, it adds .
"According to NOTAM, the runway will remain remain closed until 11:00 UTC," (6.30 pm india time),flight radar says.
Details awaited.